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The International Trade Union Confederation has condemned the Zimbabwean government’s recently published Health Services Amendment Act and Criminal Law Amendment Bill .
The ITUC said that the laws would stifle the rights of working people to freedom of expression and association.
”The ITUC reiterates that the ILO principles concerning the rights to strike states that no one should be penalised for carrying out or attempting to carry out a legitimate strike and that penal sanctions should not be imposed on any worker for participating in a peaceful strike.
Legislation that imposes sanctions against strike threats is contrary to freedom of expression and the principles of freedom of association,”the ITUC said.
The government recently signed into law,Health Services Amendment Act and Criminal Law Amendment Bill that makes outlaws industrial action by government healthcare workers lasting 3 days.
The laws also makes it punishable to speak out against the government’s policies, with penalties depending on the nature of the meeting held and the outcome of that meeting.
The laws are meant to prevent healthcare workers at state-run hospitals from going on strike.
Last year doctors and nurses at government hospitals downed tools in protest,demanding a hefty raise and wages in U.S. dollars due to a slide in the local currency and steep inflation that eroded the value of their earnings.
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